May 14, 2008

The beginning of the Cannes Film Fetival! Today the lines were starting up just to get into see the films up for awards. Exotic Cars all over the place and chasing us down the Cannes-Nice road. We had Masserrattis, Porsches, Lamborghinis, Jaquars and many I can't name. We drove all the way through to Monaco only this time we chose the Mountain Top road. As you can see from the vista's we were really up high in the clouds. The road we're looking down on, is the road we took yesterday.The weather was beautiful and we had a pleasurable drive until we came into Italy.



We got some absolutely gorgeous panoramic shots over Monaco and we really are pleased with the pictures.





Bob takes back all the bad things he says about French Drivers ( well at least some :-) ) There must be 10 motorcycles here, to every one in France and they are hell on wheels. We were both thinking we were surprised not to hear about more bike and bicycle accidents when we saw one just outside of Savona, where it appeared a trail bike ran over or into a bicycle.

The water is beautiful but it is a sin that you have to pay to go on the beach in a lot of places. Bob kidded about not seeing the topless beaches Italy talks about. However, I told him he might as well stop looking as I'd have to put an end to it anyways. (and I told her, I had trouble enough seeing anything but the multitude of motorcycles whizzing by on both sides of the car, and trying to understand the Italian road signs, to watch for the girls on the beaches.)



For some reason it is really hard to find a hotel so we have to figure out which way we want to go; further into Italy or north toward Austria and Switzerland. No matter which way we choose to go, we'll have to figure out ahead of time where to stay, as it is really difficult to keep an eye out for hotels and also watch where I'm driving and avoid the bikes, pedestrians, and other drivers.

We were merrily following the main coastal highway, and just as we were ready to go through one of the many tunnels, the road ended! No signs, no detours, no nothing. So we had to backtrack a few miles, and force the GPS to direct us to the Toll highway, so we could bypass the blockage. This road goes through the mountains high up the valleys. About 20 km cost us 1.90 Euro! At almost every valley you can look to the left, up the valley and see these huge viaducts!

May 13, 2008

Today we drove to Monaco, via Cannes and Nice, and I actually drove on the Grand Prix circuit, mind you, it was only at 50 kph, but I was there. It was crowded and heavy with traffic the whole way. We ran into a huge traffic Jam at Cannes, as they were getting ready for the start of the film festival tomorrow, and Nice was just busy.





Cannes and Nice are not anywhere near as pretty as St. Raphael and Frejus where we stayed. They may be known all over the world but I am not overly impressed. However as I said before the roads to and from have some beautiful sections for picture taking. I am trying to figure out a better route for tomorrow to keep us away from Cannes, Antibes, Nice and Monaco. If we can get past these places then it is clear sailing to the Northern Italian Coast.



I'm convinced the drivers over here are All for One and One for One! At an intersection, you don't leave the intersection empty so the cross-traffic can move, otherwise other drivers force their way into the line and block the intersection, and no one can move. If you close up tight against the car in front, no one moves anyway! Weird! On top of this, there was a tour bus double parked blocking the oncoming lane, holding up the traffic, 'cause no one from this side was going to allow alternating traffic. When another tour bus came by, it was unable to go around, 'cause again no one from the other direction would let it by. Where are the police to direct traffic when you need them?

On the way out of Monaco, we drove through this tunnel system that was simply awesome to get the traffic out of the city. The surface streets are clogged with traffic, but the tunnels were flowing at 90 kph with little hold-up. The pictures are a little blurred, as Jan was having problems holding the camera steady enough in the dark.

Tomorrow, we say goodbye to France and plan to spend a little time in Italy. We're hoping to find reasonable accommodations, and also hope the locals understand our English!